This post kicks off a series highlighting content from the American Coal Council (ACC). To learn more about the ACC, visit their web site and stop by their blog.

In light of the U.N. Climate Change Conference in Copenhagen, we thought it might be useful to share some background information on coal’s contribution to China’s rapid industrial development.

The latest edition of the American Coal Council’s American Coal magazine addressed exactly that with their article, “Out of Poverty: Coal’s contribution to China is a model for the developing world.”

Written by Dr. Frank Clemente, professor of social science and energy policy at Pennsylvania State University, the article argues that China could not have catapulted itself to the center of the world’s economic stage without coal’s affordable, abundant energy.

Just 30 years ago, more than 600 million people in China lacked electricity and only one in 500 people had a telephone, the article reports. By leveraging its vast coal reserves (China has more than 12 percent of the world’s coal), the country doubled its energy output from 1990 to 2005, improving its citizens’ quality of life.

Still, the country’s energy demand continues to grow – and because of that, Clemente believes that “there is little doubt that coal will maintain and expand its role as the cornerstone of China’s energy supply.”

Learn more about China’s rapid growth and its developments in clean coal technology in American Coal magazine, and recap China’s climate goals with our post leading up to the U.N. Climate Change Conference in Copenhagen.